Messala (crater)

Messala is a lunar impact crater of sufficient dimension to belong to the category of impact features known as walled plains. It is located in the northeastern part of the Moon, close enough to the rim to appear significantly foreshortened. It was named by the IAU in 1935.

The outer rim of this formation has received a significant amount of erosion due to minor impacts, but much of the outer wall retains its original shape and a certain degree of terracing. The rim is broken by smaller craters along the south, north, and northwest sides, designated Messala B, J, and K, respectively. Messala J has a narrow gouge in its eastern rim leading one crater diameter to the east. It is attached to a slightly larger crater which lies across the southern rim of Schumacher crater. The interior floor is relatively level but contains irregularities in the surface at some locations, including some dark fractures in the northwestern floor. There is a ghost crater along the western inner wall.

To the southwest is the prominent crater Geminus, and due south is the smaller Bernoulli.